It was the first time Ferdinand has played since suffering a calf problem in the warm-up prior to United's Premier League defeat - their first of the season - at Wolves at the beginning of February.

No way through: Rio Ferdinand barely gave Chelsea's front two a sniff all night at Stamford Bridge

Initial fears were that the deposed England captain would miss the remainder of the campaign, but his return on Wednesday has given United renewed hope as they continue their assault on three trophies.

'We’re very happy with the result, we played well and kept a clean sheet and got what we wanted before the game,' Vidic, who has coped admirably in Ferdinand's absence, said.

'In this sort of game it is very important to have experience in the team and with Rio back we had that. He had a great game, we kept a clean sheet and it showed we did some good things defensively. It was a great game for us.'

Rooney's goal against Chelsea ensured the United forward made the headlines for all the right reasons after the controversy of his celebration against West Ham last weekend.

Solid: Nemanja Vidic has been the Premier League's best defender throughout the season

Vidic paid tribute to his team-mate and the good work done in the attacking the third, after United broke with recent tradition and played two strikers instead of on being supported from deep.

'We come here to score a goal we did which we did,' the Serb added in the interview with MUTV. 'We weren't afraid to play with two forwards like we did the last time and played some nice football. We said before the game it doesn't matter if we play good football, we just wanted to win the game but we did both.'

United are now strong favourites to progress to the semi-final of the Champions League for the third time in four years. That keeps Sir Alex Ferguson's side on course to repeat their memorable treble of 1999.

Pure delight: Wayne Rooney was the match-winner at Stamford Bridge

Rather than get carried away, though, Vidic would rather focus on the challenge on a game-by-game basis.

'We have to think about the next game against Fulham and then Chelsea on Tuesday,' he added. 'It will be a difficult game, definitely. But I think in front of our crowd, with good support we can go through.'